Sunday, August 30, 2015

August concludes in unlikely fashion. Donald Trump is ahead and apparently getting stronger. Ben Carson is solidly in second place and Jeb Bush is struggling to stay in third in Republican primary polls? Or, is he actually in fourth place; behind Texas Senator, Ted Cruz?

Granted, it is early. Obviously too early to call the race. But, there seems to be a pattern. Loud and clear the American people are saying, "we're done with career politicians. It's time for an outsider!"

Anger, frustration and overall emotion are powerful influencers! It goes to show that many of these poll resondents are not armed with all of the information. If they were, Rick Perry would be enjoying a double digit lead in the polls. As things stand, his campaign is on life support. Politico predicted that the former governor would be the first to throw in the towel!

Perry should be more than frustrated! A farmer for the first forty-two years of his life, only taking a five year-break from the plow to serve as an Air Force pilot, he represents the perfect mix: Civilian, military and public service.

Republican opponents acknowledge his successfull 14-year governorship. So do the majority of Independents and even a notable percentage of registered Democrats.

As the son of West Texas tenant farmers who rose to Commissioner of Agriculture, Perry's resume sounds like the perfect script for the Iowa caucuses! Yet, last week Sam Clovis, who had earlier said that Donald Trump lacked a "moral center," dumped Perry in favor of "the Donald." Do I see a little "Kent Sorenson" in Clovis'decision?

Perry, to his credit, had not been overaly critical of the GOP field. Other than some useless jabs at Trump and mild taps at Governors, John Kasich and Chris Christie, he has been relatively benign.

Time to take the gloves off? Yes, but in a different way!

Donald Trump has placed his finger on a nerve ending. It is called "outsourcing." People are tired of hearing rationale that suggests that "we ship jobs overseas because the world is changing and we now live in a global socieity."

That's easy to say when you get yours on the first and the fifteenth, as politicians do!

Last cycle, Rick Santorum found out quickly that "K" Street will open up the coffers against anyone at odds with the status quot. Santorum's words revealed a closet protectionist. Trump is in the same court. The difference is, "the Donald" has money! And, he could care less about political correctness!

Perry's camp should take note of this fire that first Santorum in 2012 and now Trump has stoked. Amazingly, there is an opening that can vault Perry past, the entire field! From the "Showman Trump to the Charlatan Cruz to the choice of Fortune 500 globalists', Bush, to the Surgeon who is often reminiscent of Bill Cosby before the scandals!"

Identity Theft is the world's fastest growing crime. To make it an issue sounds noble. To concretely link it to offshore oursoucing would be unequivocally brilliant.

Hundreds of thousands of low wage jobs, courtesy of Chase, A T & T, Direct TV and others, are being handled in India, the Phillipines, Malaysia and Mexico. To be sure, Liberals might scoff at positions that would often pay less than $10 per hour. But, these voices are typically in non-right-to work states. When considering the fact that benefits come with these positions, a $16,000 or $17,000 per year job begins to look better. Especially if you are just getting out of school or are an older worker.

Even more to the liking of "blue collar" America would be the preclusion of offshore help in the debt recovery industry. Huge numbers of Americans are dismayed by errant credit reporting that result in mistakes on their credit reports. This results in reduced borrowering power for the consumer. And, of course, greater profits for the banks.

Besides making it illegal to outsource debt recovery, Perry could propose some changes in how debt recovery could be adminisistered. Starting with a law that would make reporting of any debt under $500 illegal. Many Americans are plague by tiny, mostly medical debts that result from providers refusing to follow the guidelines of the "Fact Act."

Such standards would infuriate Fortune 500 companies! But, their money has already been placed on Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. They are hedging their bets, in hope that one, preferably both, will be nominated.

Perry will be the first to make Identity Theft a center piece of his campaign. There will be others who will do the same. But this Populist preference would allow Perry to leapfrog four or five Republican opponents. The remainder will be forced to compare their records to his and go down like "cheese to a knife."

This strategy would neatly set a trap for Perry's rivals, namely Trump. "The Donald" couldn't oppose the plan. If it did, it would look like he was only interested in the companies, not the individual; ultimately setting himself up for a class warfare campaign. Which, of course, he would lose.

Millions of frustrated Americans are coming to the conclusion that America needs a strong man in the white house. We do. But, we must also remember that we are not Russia.

Trump is rich and he is confident. But, the majority of Americans would rather have a President that they would want to have a beer with. Perry comes off as humble as Trump arrogant. But both me have enjoyed success.

The necessary 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House never leaves centerpoint. And that will come down to which Republican candidate can secure female and Hispanic votes.

Trump backers say he can and they may have a point. The Democrat field doesn't look particularly strong. But, we have a long way to go.

I would put my money on the candidate with the record. It's probable that most non-Trump Republicans feel the same way.